The present invention relates to shoe sizers, and more specifically to shoe sizers designed to use by male and female customers of mail order shoe distributors or self service shoe stores.
The ability to order shoes by mail is a widely accepted practice, and an especially convenient one for customers living in remote or rural areas. A problem inherent with this type of marketing is the difficulty in accurately determining the correct shoe size. An added wrinkle to this problem is that different mail order manufacturers produce shoes having size designations which are not interchangeable. Thus it is critical for a customer to be able to accurately determine his size according to the manufacturing pattern of a particular manufacturer.
If the customer is unable to properly determine his shoe size, he will order poorly fitting shoes and will become dissatisfied with the distributor. The shoes will then either go unused, the distributor having lost a customer, or the shoes will be returned to the distributor, often with shipping costs borne by the distributor. Even if the customer is willing to try another pair, there is a high probability of another incorrect selection.
Thus, it is desirable for mail order shoe distributors to be able to provide a low cost, accurate shoe sizer either alone or shipped with a pair of shoes.
Conventional shoe sizers are represented by a common model produced by the Brannock Company of Syracuse, N.Y., and found in most conventional shoe stores. The Brannock device comprises a metallic base plate having vertically projecting heel plates at either end, and a pair of sliding width gauges, one to measure the width of a foot placed in each of the heel plates. The Brannock device is unsuitable for use by mail order distributors because its metal construction and relatively large size make it cumbersome and overly expensive to ship by mail. Also, the Brannock device costs too much to manufacture for the limited amount use to which it would be put by mail order customers, or the abuse and potential for theft in self service shoe stores. Furthermore, a separate Brannock device is required for men's and women's sizes. Lastly, the accuracy of the Brannock device is questionable.
Attempts to make shoe sizers lighter and less expensive normally involve the use of polymeric materials. One previously encountered drawback of polymeric shoe sizers is the inability to accurately imprint a shoe sizing grid upon a plastic surface without encountering obstructions caused by molded, projecting members serving as heel plates or other foot positioning means. Another drawback of conventional polymeric shoe sizers manufactured by conventional molding methods is the presence of integral, vertically-projecting members which create a device too bulky to conveniently ship by mail. Still another drawback of conventional polymeric shoe sizers is the requirement for separate men's and women's models.
Thus, a major objective of the present invention is to provide a low cost shoe sizer which can be readily shipped by mail in a flat package.
It is another object of the present invention to provide shoe sizer which is more accurate than present devices.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a shoe sizer which can be used by both men and women.